Geum triflorum, June 22, 2025
Common & scientific name
Prairie smoke, Geum triflorum
Family
Rose, Rosaceae
Location
North Fork Lake Creek TH, 10,900’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
This sublimely soft, rosy, nodding flower is always a delight to find, whether it’s a single plant or whether it fills a meadow. Its seed heads are reminiscent of a Dr. Seuss hair style (see bottom left). Interestingly, it is the plant’s rosy bracts and sepals, not its small, pale petals just protruding at the tip of the flower, that give prairie smoke its elegant color and shape.
Upper right we have a rare white morph, in which a mutation led to a lack of rose-pink pigment. The plant world never fails to surprise!